This invention relates to the arrangement of a top arch for generally rectangular coking chambers disposed in an alternate relationship with heating flues which, like the coking chambers, extend transversely of the length of a coke oven battery. The coking chambers are bounded by vertical heating walls that separate the heating flues from the coking chambers.
Coal for the coking process is charged into the various coking chambers through a number of charging openings in the oven crown. The charging openings are distributed over the length of the coking chambers. A gas-collecting chamber is formed above the coal charge by maintaining a space in the coking chamber between the coal charge and the coking chamber roof. A leveling rod is usually introduced from the coke machine side of the coke oven battery into the gas-collecting chamber for leveling the coal charge.
As disclosed in West German patent specification No. 503 814, it is known in the art to provide the top ends of the coking chambers with a semicircular arching or vaulting so that a gas-collecting chamber is formed with a semicircular cross section.
The development of a high-performance coke oven battery having relatively wide coking chambers has led to problems in the construction of the oven crown. The oven crown must withstand the forces produced by heavy charging trucks moving along the top of the oven crown. At the same time, the cross sections of the gas-collecting chambers at the tops of the oven chambers must not be reduced in order that the gases evolving during the distillation process can be discharged satisfactory from the coking chambers.